Boats and Birds
by SylviaBronte
Summary: All of the Avengers (and a couple of SHIELD agents) take it in turns to babysit Steve and Peggy's three-year-old daughter, Stacey.
1. How Things Came to Be

**AN: Tagging this was so awkward! I wish I could have tagged Peggy in this... The relationships in this one are Steve/Peggy, Tony/Pepper, Thor/Jane, Maria/Phil, and established Clint/Natasha. I hope you enjoy!**

**This is partially based on a submission to the Avengers Headcanons blog on tumblr :)**

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The papers that Steve were provided with, all full of information regarding Agent Margaret Carter, were completely falsified. Fury and Coulson created and forged the papers themselves, basically to put Steve's mind at ease. They never counted on the fact that he'd want to go and visit the nursing home where she was apparently now residing. They figured, give the man some hope. Let him believe, but he's got bigger fish to fry. He's too busy with SHIELD, with the Avengers, with getting used to the world he once knew. Yeah, they thought that Steve going to visit her would never be an issue.

But when he approached them both in the Helicarrier office, having been told that nobody under the name 'Margaret Carter' (or Peggy Carter) was, or ever had been, a resident, they were really knocked for six. Hell, there wasn't even a woman with the correct _first name_, let alone a damn surname. It was a classic SHIELD screw-up - they happened ever so often, and Fury liked to keep them as covered up as he possibly could. The last one, funnily enough (though it was really far from humourous), had also involved Steve - the baseball game playing over the radio when he woke up. There he had stood, a man demanding to know what had really happened. Of course, they couldn't keep the truth from him. Not now.

A year after Steve had disappeared, presumed dead, Peggy had volunteered for a SHIELD experiment started by Howard Stark. Of course, it wasn't called SHIELD at the time, but Howard Stark was one of the founding members and what had originally been cited as a project prematurely set to fail blossomed into what it was today. The experiment involved being cryogenically frozen for twenty years, and Peggy, along with eleven other subjects (six males and five other females), were frozen, and left under the old book store that served as a semi-permenant base. She'd lost the man she was falling in love with, and she didn't exactly feel like she had anything to lose, so why the hell not? Twenty years went by, and the moment of truth arrived. The first four subjects were 'thawed', as it was nicknamed, and didn't survive the process. Neither did the next eight. Peggy, and the final volunteer - an unspecified male, were abandoned under the bookstore. They didn't see the point in trying, and the experiment was a failure.

_Theoretically_, Fury had finished, _they should both still be down there. Peggy and the other guy._

It was to nobody's surprise and Steve demanded to go to the bookstore and search. Of course, it was no longer a bookstore - there was a thrift store in its place. It took some (very careful) explaining and a small SHIELD cover-up (Steve still owes them back for it), but they managed to get down to the basement. As theorised, there they were.

Unfortunately, the male didn't survive the process, just as the others had failed to. This hardly surprised anybody - they'd been frozen for an extra fifty years, their survival chances were slimmer than they had been in the first place. Steve almost asked them not to thaw her out, to just leave her... what were her chances of surviving? But, despite everything, they stoically continued.

But, despite everything, Peggy survived.

The weeks that followed were tense, as was to be expected. Peggy was very much alive, but she was in a medically-induced coma until they could get her looking a little healthier. Her skin was pale, and she was disturbingly frail, all skin and bones. She stayed that way for at least a month or two, before she woke up in a room she didn't recognise. This time, they didn't beat around the bush. She'd been frozen knowing that she was leaving the world, so they were counting on her reaction being less severe than Steve's have been. And, of course, it was. Steve often commented on how she never really let the bigger things in life affect her, she always just got up, dusted herself off, and kept going. He admired her for it.

It took them another three weeks to tell her that Steve was alive and well. They both cried when they were reunited. Fury was also rumoured to have shed a tear, but this is another famous SHIELD cover-up. Nobody knows for sure.

Steve and Peggy moved in together. They got married. Both of them are still trying to get used to this crazy new world that they live in, but within the next few years, Peggy is a SHIELD agent working closely with the Avengers, and they have a three-year-old daughter. A pretty little girl with blonde curls, and big brown eyes reminiscent of her mother's. The named her Stacey Elizabeth Rogers.

Due to the nature of their work, Peggy is often sent out to various locations for assignments and missions. However, she refuses to accept a job that means she is away from Stacey for more than a week at a time. Steve is almost always sent with her, which leaves their little girl in need of babysitters.

Everybody loves her. She's a regular on the Helicarrier, on the quieter days and weekends Steve and Peggy bring her with them, but Peggy is almost always busier than he is. The child stays in the Avengers common room for the better part of the day, and they all agree that she's great to have around, even if she distracts them from their work. Of course, they always let her. When she was younger, she wasn't quite as outgoing, sticking to Steve like glue and giggling as the others tried to entertain her. Now, she was fully confident around just about anybody, laughing and chatting animatedly with just about anybody who'd listen to her. Which was practically everyone. One of her best friends was Bruce's adopted daughter, Shanta. She had led him to meet Natasha back in India, and the eight year old was adopted and brought to live in America only six months after the war-like battle with Loki and the Chitauri.

In fact, everybody was so taken with Stacey, there were arguments over who babysat her. So, the conflict was resolved with Peggy and Steve drawing up a schedule of some sorts. A timetable.

Of course, Stacey doesn't particularly mind who looks after her. She loves everybody, and really couldn't be happier.


	2. Tuesdays with Uncle Thor and Auntie Jane

**AN: Sorry this update took so long! Hope you enjoy it :) This chapter is actually supposed to be called 'Tuesdays with Uncle Thor and Auntie JaneY', because Stacey calls her Janey, but it was ONE FUCKING CHARACTER too long. Oh, well, you get the gist.**

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Stacey normally gets dropped off with Jane and Thor quite early on in the morning. It's mostly just Thor at the time, seeing as Jane likes to leave at around 6am (sometimes earlier) to go and study with Erik and Darcy. However, if Thor isn't busy trying to figure out the latest electrical appliance Jane brings home (he's got two scars from the blender), he's always happy to play with her and tell stories. Stacey is often dropped off in her pajamas (actually a Captain America onesie), and seeing as Thor has never been (and probably never will be) a morning person, it's not uncommon for them to cuddle up in bed together and get some sleep. Thor holds the small, delicate child to his chest, and she rests comfortably in his strong arms for at least an hour or two, before she wakes up and starts pestering Thor for the breakfast he was supposed to but forgot to give her.

Breakfasts at Jane and Thor's apartment usually consist of cereal or Pop Tarts, seeing as Thor isn't that confident with much else. Things that can be taken from boxes aren't that hard to fix up for a three-year-old, but he frequently uses too much strength, meaning broken bowls, crushed Pop Tarts, and cereal and milk all over the floor. They both just laugh, clean it up together, and Stacey promises not to tell Jane. Once they've got breakfast out of the way, Stacey loves nothing more than sitting out in the garden (on the couch with a blanket when it's not nice out) with Thor, and begging him to tell her stories about all of the battles, about his father, his brother, Asgard. She adores Uncle Thor's company, especially when he tells stories.

Old tales about Odin's battles and what was now referred to as the 'New Mexico incident' always keep her hooked, taking in everything he says with concentration and focus well beyond her three years. She hangs on his every word, and she squeals every time he mentions how Odin lost his eye. The story about the battle against the Frost Giants in Jotunheim is probably her favourite, and she practically _hisses_ whenever he mentions Laufey's name. She always asks questions about Loki when he talks about New Mexico, and frequently asks to meet him. Unsurprisingly, the answer is always a no. She also asks if she might be able to visit Asgard one day, and he just chuckled. _Maybe when you are older, and wiser in your years, young one._

They can spend hours drawing together. Stacey is surprisingly good for a toddler, seeing as she draws a lot with Steve. She likes to draw what she would imagine Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse Odin rode into battle, would look like, and she even draws her impression of Asgard. But, one of her other absolute favourite things is playing with Thor's hair. She sometimes likes to call him 'My Goldilocks', and was shocked upon finding out he'd never heard the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Stacey tried to tell him the story, but gave it a happier ending. When he found out the real ending from Jane later that night, he seemed slightly horrified. Peggy taught her daughter how to braid hair, so by the time Jane comes home, Thor's hair is full of little braids, and hairslides, which is a sight that never fails to greatly amuse her. Once, she borrowed Peggy's hair curlers (she never did get the hang of the curling iron), and he ended up with hair like a young Shirley Temple.

Stacey likes it when Jane comes home. She adores her Auntie Janey. As soon as she hears the door open, she bolts up, leaves whatever she's doing, and runs to her, hugging her legs and clamouring for her attention. Jane, who has a soft spot for the little girl, doesn't hesitate to pick her up and kiss her cheek. She then carries her back to the small lounge area, and laughs at whatever state Thor's in (normally she's messed with his hair, but she's been known to draw on his face too - she even used some of Jane's makeup on him once). But, despite whatever the child has subjected him to while she's been working, she always kisses him and sits down with Stacey. She's always hated it when she sees people kissing, her three-year-old mind seeing it as something pretty damn gross. They like to talk about their days while Thor goes and cleans himself up.

If Stacey has to stay the night, which isn't a rare occasion, one of two things will happen. On some occasions, Jane and Thor decide to turn on a kids movie - her favourite right now is Finding Nemo, and they've all watched it so many times they can collectively recite the entire script. Stacey's favourite part is when the seagulls are chasing them, Thor likes Nemo's first day of school (he sings along with the teacher, and after Stacey leaves the next day, he constantly sings it around the apartment - a habit that pisses Jane off to no end). Jane's favourtie part is at the end, where Nemo and Marlin are reunited. It's also her most hated part, because every time she watches it, she cries in the same way that Pepper Potts cries over the first five minutes of Up: to relentless teasing. They both laugh at Jane, and Thor's big on the teasing, so he normally ends up getting smacked in the arm. It's not rare for the three of them to fall asleep on the couch while they watch the movie, all three exhausted from the day's activities. However, when they don't watch a movie, they all curl up in bed together and fall asleep there instead. It never takes a lot to get Stacey to sleep, but sometimes Thor tells her another story, a calmer one than the battle in Jotunheim. He tells her the same story that his mother always recited to the two brothers, and she's asleep in minutes.

Mondays with Uncle Thor and Auntie Janey always have her in a great mood, and it never fails to make Jane smile as she hears Stacey babbling on about Asgard, and Frost Giants, and all the constellations in the sky as she leaves hand in hand with Steve and Peggy.

Yeah, when she has to be babysat on a Monday, she has a great time. Sometimes, however, she ends up spending her Tuesdays with Auntie Tasha.

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**As you probably guessed, the next part to this story will be called Tuesdays with Auntie Tasha. Hopefully you won't have to wait as long this time!**


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